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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30011925">the woman of white</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/angsty_beaches/pseuds/angsty_beaches'>angsty_beaches</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ahsoka Tano Needs a Hug, Ahsoka Tano is a Sibling to the Clones, Ahsoka Tano-centric, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, BAMF Obi-Wan Kenobi, Choking, Gen, Hurt Ahsoka Tano, Protective CT-7567 | Rex, Protective Clone Troopers (Star Wars), Sick Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:21:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,800</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30011925</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/angsty_beaches/pseuds/angsty_beaches</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>the woman wore white. a white dress stained with blood and a white veil covering her face. Ahsoka had yet to see her face, but she could see black trails of tears stain the veil. she did not know why she was trying to hurt her, she only knew she couldn't hurt her while she had the old necklace- the Cross.</p><p>OR: I make a scary force demon torture Ahsoka</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ahsoka Tano &amp; Clone Troopers, Ahsoka Tano &amp; Original Character(s), Ahsoka Tano &amp; Torrent Company, Anakin Skywalker &amp; Ahsoka Tano, CT-7567 | Rex &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Anakin Skywalker &amp; Ahsoka Tano</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>55</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. the beginning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ahsoka could not go anywhere without it. If she did, the Woman of White could get her, and Ahsoka was not going to let that happen. It was a simple chain, with a ‘t’ carved of wood hanging off of it. The natives had told her that it was a relic from a dead religion in a world that ceased to exist anymore. It was simple enough to hide under her battle dress, she did not want any of her brothers to see it and worry for her. She should have known that she could not always live so protected.</p><p>    They had just finished a relief mission, sending humanitarian aid to the people of Ryloth- again. Ahsoka and the clones were sitting around a fire, laughing and telling rambunctious stories. She felt the tell-tale cold of the Woman, but she knew no harm would come to her with her relic on-otherwise the Woman would burn. One of the local boys had ventured over to the rowdy group, and they had forced themselves to settle down. He was half of Ahsoka’s age, his mother following him around almost skittishly. </p><p>    “We wanted to thank you for your help,” the twi-lek spoke, and Ahsoka could hear her exhaustion in her voice.</p><p>    “Of course, anything to help,” Ahsoka answered. The men nodded and grinned, the little boy racing around giggling loudly. </p><p>    “Look Momma, there she is again!” He suddenly talked very loudly, attracting the attention of the entire group.</p><p>    “Who?” Fives smirked knowingly at the boy, as if he were in on his little secret. </p><p>    Ahsoka was about to add to the little conversation when she saw where he was pointing- the Woman of White. Her quickened breathing went unnoticed by the group.</p><p>    “Maleki’i, hush. He has been speaking tales about a woman who follows him around. He says she’s always wearing white.”</p><p>    “No, no, she’s real Momma!” Maleki’i waved to her, but when she waved back, it was directed to Ahsoka, who’s breathing became more labored. The boy turned to her. “You can see her, too?” </p><p>    “Hush, boy. Do not fill them with your false tales.”</p><p>“No, no, momma, she waved to her, she knows her!”</p><p>   “For the last time, she is not real.”</p><p>    “Yes she is!”</p><p>    “No, she is not. I am so sorry for his behavior. It started a few weeks ago, and he said she watched him sleep.”</p><p>   “She did!”</p><p>   “She did not.” The clones watched the exchange uncomfortably, unsure what to make of the situation.</p><p>   “She took away my bad dreams!”</p><p>   “No, Maleki’i. She didn’t. She is-”</p><p>   “Real.” Ahsoka spoke up for the first time, her unblinking gaze fixed upon the Woman. Everyone turned to her. “The Woman, I mean. She is as real as you or me.”</p><p>   “See momma, told ya.”</p><p>   “Listen, Jedi, I am grateful for your help, but do not fill my son’s head with stories of untrue things.”</p><p>   “Ahsoka?”</p><p>   “No, ma’am, I assure you, she is real. Look.” She untucked her necklace. The Woman stared from behind her veil, Ahsoka could feel it. Maleki’i looked at it with interest, his mother with distaste. Her boys cast her worried looks, and Kix found himself clocking her for hidden head wounds.</p><p>   “And, tell me child, what is that?”</p><p>   “They say it’s called a cross. It’s from an old religion called Christianity, but the religion died along with the entire system. But apparently only one of the planets, called Earth, was colonized.”</p><p>    “Why do you need it?”</p><p>    “If I don’t, she’ll hurt me.”</p><p>    “Maleki’i, let’s go,” she grabbed her son and pulled him along the path, clearly tired of hearing Ahsoka’s words.</p><p>   “Ahsoka?” Kix walked over to her, put into motion with the mention of abuse. He kneeled in front of her and began checking her pulse, studying her expressions. “Does anything hurt or feel off?” </p><p>   Ahsoka opened her mouth to respond, but found she could not get anything out. A moment later, she found she could not get anything in either, no oxygen making it to her lungs. She lifted her hands to her throat, trying to massage it open, the universal sign for choking. She collapsed to her knees while frantically trying to relieve her burning lungs. Kix let out a surprised yelp, but quickly sprang into action, Coric a moment behind him. They lay her on her back, elevating her slightly. The other men watched helplessly while the medics tried helping her and Tup ran to find Anakin. Soon, her vision darkened and blurred at the edges, allowing her only to view the world through a blurred tunnel in her oxygen-deprived state. She felt Kix inject her with a syringe- but what was in it, she didn’t know. Before she passed out, she saw the Woman standing, black teardrops staining the earth.</p><p> </p><p>“Coric, Kix, what happened.” Rex’s voice was gruff with worry. It was not every day part of his command structure spewed nonsense like a child, or collapse and pass out from choking on nothing. Kix had injected her with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications, thinking that it had been just a bad allergic reaction, and her throat had swelled shut. </p><p>“I don’t know, sir. According to our scan, nothing out of the ordinary.”</p><p>“How can that be possible?”</p><p>“Sir.” Coric inserted himself into the conversation. “What she was saying before she started her episode, perhaps we need to take that into consideration.”</p><p>“You mean to tell me that a woman none of us can see is following our commander around like a tooka and harming her.” Kix and Coric shared a glance.</p><p>“Maybe not exactly that, but it could be something psychologically wrong. Like high stress or depression levels are causing her to hallucinate someone hurting her, to take away and hide from the reality. That the war is what is actually hurting her. And, quite possibly, she could be hurting herself, but her mind comes up with an alternate personification to hide and protect her from the truth. The mind can do a lot.” Kix nodded along to Coric’s explanation, and Rex rolled everything over in his head. </p><p>“What about the twi-lek? He said he saw her, too.”</p><p>“I don’t know.” Obi-Wan spoke up from beside Anakin’s shoulder, who continued his silent vigil beside Ahsoka, synthetic hand gripping hers tightly as he stared into the monitors.</p><p>“If this mysterious woman really is just a creation from Ahsoka’s mind, given the stress she is under from the war, she could very well be projecting this woman onto others. None of us could see her because we have walls protecting us from force suggestions, but children, who are open-minded, can not protect themselves. It is very likely her projection caused him to see her, too.” </p><p>A hiccup could be heard from the bed, and Kix scurried off to check the blip in the monitor while they stood and watched the sleeping girl rest. </p><p>The Woman included.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. gone like a ghost</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ahsoka ran through the semi-familiar forest, panting out breaths of polluted air. A heavy and dark fog surrounded her, making it difficult to see, and the force seemed to be sluggish, proving useless to her. She heard the screaming of the Woman behind her, ear-splitting and almost heart-wrenching. It would be heart-wrenching if it didn’t mean that she was coming up on the girl. Turning left at a fork in the wayless path, she paused for a moment to gasp for breath. The Woman was close, she could feel it, so she began to run again. Before she could, a distinctly clone-figure walked between the trees she could not name, the fog hiding beneath his knees. He reached for her with his gloved hands, and she reached back without trepidation, reaching for the one familiar. She stepped back when he stepped forward and exposed the black blood dripping out from underneath his leg plates. She turned and fled the tiny clearing, running desperately.<br/> She leaped over a turned branch, landing awkwardly on her ankle. Stumbling, she used her hands to push off of the surrounding trees, trying to use them to propel her forwards. Suddenly, a root shot out and wrapped around her twisted ankle, bringing her crashing to the ground with a cry. The roots continued the wrap around her, squeezing her chest and torso, making breathing hard. She heard light footfalls of her haunt, and screwed her eyes shut. The whisper of the bottom of the dress caressed her face. <br/>Ahsoka refused to open her eyes, to give the Woman the satisfaction of it. A sob escaped the Woman, and she knew that the black tears cascaded down her face and the front of her dress. The roots tightened noose-like, moving to circle her neck. A single tear fell on the prone girl, and she screamed. The tear burned acid, searing her skin, turning it black. It evaporated the sweat on her skin, before vaporating her skin and boiling her blood. Colors danced joyously behind her eyelids, despite the pain and the un-joyous event. Slowly, more tears fell onto Ahsoka, and more reds and yellows and blacks danced. She felt her skin blister and bubble, and she grit her teeth, her own salty clear tears dripping. The Woman leaned over, and Ahsoka knew when she felt the sharp fingers of her caress her tears away, and her stomach twisted with the awful irony of it all. <br/>“Ahsoka,” the haunt whispered. “Ahsoka.” No, that wasn't right. “Ahsoka.” The voice was masculine. Far away, not a whisper. “Ahsoka!” It got closer. “Ahsoka, wake up! It’s just a dream.” She thrashed under the caress of the Woman, under the crushing hold of the roots, under the burning of the acid tears. “It’s okay, wake up.” She kept her eyes squeezed shut. “Sir, you’re all right, wake up now.”</p><p> </p><p>    Ahsoka shot up to a sitting position, heaves of breaths of fresh air relieving her burning lungs. Tears stained and smeared her face, drying in awkward patterns. Anakin rest his hands on her shoulders, concern on his face and a question in his eyes.<br/>    “Ahsoka?” He was worried. She was looking frantically around, her lungs trying to find a pattern. Her eyes searched relentlessly for the necklace that was no longer hanging around her neck. <br/>    “Commander, look at me.” Coric was ignored. “Ahsoka.” The use of her birth-name caused her to give him her divided attention. “Take deep breaths.” She could not, so he grabbed her hand and placed it on his chest, allowing her palm to feel the steady beats. “Breathe.” Slowly, her hammering heart and burning lungs matched his pace, but her eyes still watered. “Would you mind telling me about your dream?” <br/>    “Where is it?” <br/>    “Where is what?” A frown etched Coric’s face.<br/>    “The necklace- the cross.”<br/>    “We had to remove it when you started choking.”<br/>    “Why would you do that,” her voice quivered with anger. Coric recoiled a little, shocked at the tone she never used with anyone. <br/>    “Ahsoka.” Her master, the only other person in the room. “The medics had to remove it from your neck because it was a safety hazard, and quite possibly the reason you started choking in the first place.” His voice was dangerously low. Not only was the attachment to the silly necklace forbidden to the Jedi, she was becoming too possessive of it, coming up with stories as excuses to keep it. She shook her head desperately. <br/>    “No, no, no. Where is it? Please!” Her voice was pleading, begging them to understand what she would not explain.<br/>    “Ahsoka, I think that it would be in your best interest if it went away.” His voice was stern, and Coric took his leave, not willing to get between the bickering Jedi. <br/>    “No, Master you can’t!”<br/>    “I can. You are becoming too attached to an inanimate object! It’s not the Jedi way.”<br/>    “I need it!”<br/>    “Why? Enlighten me, my Padawan. And don’t just tell me-”<br/>    “Because then she’ll get me!”<br/>    “Ahsoka, no one is going to get you! Stop making up stories like a youngling.” Se visibly recoiled at his harsh chastising, and he let out a loaded sigh.<br/>    “You don’t believe me?” Anakin turned over what Obi-Wan had said in his head, and found he could not lie to her.<br/>    “No, I don’t believe that there is someone out to get you. It’s just the stress of the war bearing you down.” The girl pulled her knees to her chest, the starched stiff bed sheets pooling around her ankles, making her look everything vulnerable. Her wide blue eyes reflected the harsh bright lights and the hurt showing. <br/>    “But you have to believe me.” Her voice cracked, she had known it was a stretch for anyone to believe, but she had still hoped her master would believe her. Her mental barriers had been down, allowing anyone who wished to have a stroll through her mind. <br/>    “I’m sorry Ahsoka. When we get to Coruscant, you are to stay with the mind healers until they give you proper clearance. Until then, you are to stay here. In the med-bay. Now, sleep.” He sent her a strong sleeping suggestion, one that her open and raw mind could not battle.</p><p> </p><p>    “Master, I don’t know what to do, she’s far too attached to it,” Anakin studied the carved wood, swinging from the rope held in his grasp. <br/>    “I’m afraid I don’t have the answers to that, old padawan mine.” Obi-Wan’s brows were scrunched on his forehead, his forefinger and thumb propping his chin. <br/>    “Sir, if I may?” Coric stood stiffly beside the holo-table, severely troubled and an equally disturbed Kix to his left.<br/>    “Go on.”<br/>    “This is a lot more than we first thought.”<br/>    “What do you mean?” Rex finally spoke.<br/>    “We thought that her brain had come up with an alternate persona as a scapegoat for the horrors of war. But as it turns out, it’s more than that. When she woke from her night terror, she was covered in bruises she hadn’t had previously, and Kix and I discovered burns littering her arms and her torso.”<br/>    “The strange thing is, sirs, that these were acidic burns, not burns by excessive heat. We may have reason to believe that she is self harming. She may have quite possibly tried to kill herself even while unconscientious.” Kix studied his hands as he spoke.<br/>    “How?”<br/>    “It is possible she used the force, if her stress is that deeply buried, then it is very possible that she used the force without awareness,” Obi-Wan stroked his beard thoughtfully, then hated himself for his normal gesture in this absolutely not-normal situation. “I think it best if we took away her access to the force for a little while, just until she gets proper help.”<br/>    “Master-”<br/>    “Anakin, it’s for her own safety.”<br/>    “Of course, Master.”<br/>    “Cody, would you mind?” Cody nodded before taking his leave. He did, in fact, mind going back to his quarters that he shared with his general to get the force-binding cuffs. He minded because those cuffs had been used for less than innocent purposes, ones he was not intent on sharing. He grabbed the cuffs from the edgeboard of the bed, clasping them to his belt before leaving to the med-bay. He also supposed he minded because he had grown fond of the kid, and he did not want to hurt her. Though she was clearly already hurting. When he had opened the curtain to her space, however, there was no togruta. The bed was covered in black liquid, dripping on the floor. In the middle of the bed, lay a rope, coiled to be a noose. <br/>    “Cody,” a voice whispered, harsh and grating on his ears. “Cody.” This time, the voice had a distinct Corellian accent. The black liquid on the bed reformed to be shaped like his general. Color followed, and as much as Cody wanted to run, he couldn’t move his muscles. He couldn’t move as the figure grated his name, as the noose moved around its neck. No, he couldn’t move even as it tightened, causing his general to gasp and sputter his name in broken syllables. He couldn’t move even as he begged for Cody’s help, eyes bulging comically and face reddening. <br/>    “Cody, help me.” Alas, Cody could not, watching as the noose suddenly jerked, snapping his neck. Then could he move, and he lunged forward, only to find nothing there. Rather, the bed was white, with a message written in aurebesh. Red and choppy.<br/>    ‘May the fool realize he knows nothing.<br/>        I am always watching.’</p><p>    Cody’s hands trembled, then he remembered that his favorite togruta was missing. He sprinted out the med-bay and down the hall, before pulling the alarm. He put his comm to his mouth, “Ahsoka’s gone!” </p><p>He never mentioned the vision, she noted, watching through a thin layer of gauzy white.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>instead of continuing my other stories, I decided to start a new one :) happy reading</p></blockquote></div></div>
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